Michigan AG charges several residents of deep-red county for 'trying to vote a second time'

In Michigan — one of the most critically important battleground states in the 2024 election — the Mitten State's top law enforcement official has announced felony charges against seven residents of a predominantly Republican county for alleged voter fraud.

The Detroit News reported that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is charging seven people in Macomb County with felonies in relation to alleged voter fraud in the August 6, 2024 primary election. This includes charges against four people — 68 year-old Frank Prezzato, 56 year-old Stacy Kramer, 44 year-old Douglas Kempkins Jr. and 62 year-old Geneva O'Day — who Nessel said were "trying to vote a second time."

Those four defendants all reside in St. Clair Shores, and Nessel alleges they each tried to vote with absentee ballots as well as in-person. In addition to those four defendants, three others have been charged: Two poll workers in St. Clair Shores — 73 year-old Patricia Guciardo and 42 year-old Emily McClintock — have each been charged with one count apiece of falsifying election records, in addition to other charges of voting more than once. Additionally, 31 year-old election worker Molly Brasure was charged with two counts of falsifying election records and two counts of voting on multiple occasions via absentee ballot and in-person.

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Notably, Nessel chose to file charges against the seven defendants even though Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido chose not to. On August 29, Lucido – a Republican — chose not to file charges, citing a police report that said there was "no malicious or criminal intent displayed by any of the voters, each claiming an honest mistake."

"The report indicated the individuals in question had tried to spoil their absentee ballots, believed they had spoiled their absentee ballots and then proceeded to cast a ballot in person," Lucido said at the time. He added that the defendants "did everything in their power to make sure that they only voted once" and that "the intent is critical on our part on whether we charge."

Nessel, who is a Democrat, disputed Lucido's account and suggested he was doing "insufficient" investigatory work. She criticized the Macomb County prosecutor for his apparent refusal to conduct "no additional investigation" beyond the initial police report. And Nessel noted that state law doesn't allow a voter to simply spoil an absentee ballot on Election Day and then vote again in-person.

"Frankly, some of the statements [Lucido] made were just factually inaccurate and also legally incorrect," Nessel said.

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The political affiliation of the defendants is unknown. However, Macomb County, which is a populous county on the eastern shore with Lake Huron, has been a Republican stronghold for the past eight years.

In 2020, former President Donald Trump carried Macomb County with 53.4% of the vote, defeating President Joe Biden there by more than 40,000 ballots. Trump won Macomb County by an even larger margin in 2016, beating Hillary Clinton by more than 48,000 ballots and garnering 53.6% of the vote.

Click here to read the Detroit News' report in its entirety.

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